Building's L-Shaped Apartments Contained Two Rooms, Not One Under DHCR Policy

The DHCR's Rent Administrator granted landlord's application for MCI rent hikes based on installation of a new roof. Tenants appealed and lost. They challenged landlord's room count, claiming that units in the "R" line had two rooms, not three. But each of these apartments contained a windowless kitchen measuring over 59 square feet, a bedroom, and a large living/dining room. So, under the requirements of DHCR Policy Statement 93-2, these apartments each had three rooms. In addition, tenants in the "E" line argued that their kitchens were too small to be considered rooms for MCI purposes and that these apartments had one room, rather than two. DHCR inspection of an "E" line unit found two adjacent, otherwise enclosed areas within the unit, distinguished from each other by a clearly perceptible difference in geometric form. Both adjacent areas in these L-shaped apartments contained at least 60 square feet and at least one window, and therefore qualified as two separate rooms for MCI purposes. Finally, landlord had admitted that "dressing rooms" in some apartments weren't included in the building room count because these were too small to be considered rooms. 

Conrad/Various Tenants: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket Nos. JU410056RT, JS410012RT (7/17/23)[3-pg. document]